QUINCY – Almost two months after the state housing department released a scathing report on Quincy Housing Authority’s poor maintenance practices, federal housing officials now plan to launch their own inspections of homes funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Inspections will begin in August, but officials at the federal housing agency’s office in Boston have not decided whether they will inspect all 650 public housing units in the city that are supported by federal funds.

The embattled housing agency has been under the state spotlight since late May, prompting the federal agency to start its own inspections.

“Given the issues that have come up from state inspections, there’s some concern there,” said Rhonda Siciliano, a spokeswoman for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s regional office in Boston. “We need to get an assessment of the condition of the federal properties.”

In recent weeks, inspectors from the State Department of Housing and Community Development have documented what officials have described as “deplorable” conditions in many of the 938 state-funded public housing apartments in Quincy, including heavy mold, exposed electrical wires and in one case, a toilet from an upstairs unit leaking onto a stove top in a downstairs apartment.

State housing officials – including engineers, construction supervisors and project managers – took over operations of the maintenance department at the Quincy Housing Authority more than two weeks ago.

James Lydon, the executive director of the Quincy Housing Authority, did not return a call from The Patriot Ledger Tuesday afternoon, seeking his reaction to the federal agency’s announcement.

Lydon earlier this month placed the housing authority’s maintenance director, David Ferris, on paid administrative leave and announced plans to fire Ferris. He said Ferris mismanaged his department, including having employees sign off on repairs to public housing apartments that were never completed.

Some tenants at the federally-funded O’Brien Towers in Germantown said they want federal inspectors do a thorough job when they come to Quincy next month.

“I am excited they are coming, but I hope they do full inspection. Usually they do it piecemeal,” said Jim Morgan, a retired letter carrier who has lived at O’Brien for two years.

Morgan said mold and a leaking roof are the chief problems at the eight-story building where residents have lived with one working elevator since February.

Donna Manning said her apartment in O’Brien is in terrible shape.

“We had leaks from the ceiling, and the kitchen and bathroom ceiling are all chipping,” said Manning who has lived in the apartment with her husband for the last 10 years. “The countertop in the kitchen has all fallen apart.”

Page 2 of 2 - While state and federal agencies size up the problems in Quincy, the state Senate is moving to pass a bill aimed at beefing up the oversight and performance of local housing authorities without relinquishing local control.

The House approved similar legislation last week, and the Senate will debate the bill on Thursday. State Sen. John F. Keenan, D-Quincy, said the bill stresses accountability and better training for housing authority managers.

“On issues of maintenance, housing authorities will have to come up with plan and have a public hearing on it,” said Keenan. “It gives residents a more visible and public way of making their concerns known.”

Christopher Burrell may be reached at cburrell@ledger.com or follow on Twitter @Burrell_Ledger.